Motorsports Links: Renault Gets Two-Year Suspended Ban

Formula One: Renault Slapped With Two-Year Suspended Ban
Renault escaped the harshest penalties for ordering its driver, Nelson Piquet Jr., to crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to help its other driver, Fernando Alonso, win the race.

“We gave them a suspended sentence because Renault demonstrated that the team had no responsibility and the company even less,” said Max Mosley, president of the Federation International de l’Automobile. “The penalty for Briatore is that he is no longer associated with the F.I.A. series.”

Flavio Briatore, Renault’s team principal, and Pat Symonds, its engineering director, resigned last week, after statements by Piquet were leaked to the press. In those statements Piquet said that he was told by Briatore to crash and that Symonds showed Piquet where to crash on a track map.

Renault said last week that it would not contest the charges, which helped alleviate the severity of the penalty handed down by the World Motor Sport Council.

“The World Motor Sport Council considers that offenses of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the F.I.A. Formula One World Championship,” the F.I.A. said. “However, having regard to the points in mitigation mentioned above and in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1’s disqualification until the end of the 2011 season.”

In 2007, McLaren was fined $100 million for stealing Ferrari’s technical plans. Considering that punishment, many in Formula One were expecting the worst — a large fine and possible exclusion, which would have been traumatic for the sport, which lost Honda this season due to the recession and will lose BMW next year. “For F1, it would be disastrous to lose a team and, in our case, an engine supplier,” Christian Horner, the team principal for Red Bull Racing, told BBC Sport. (The Associated Press)

Formula One: What Did Alonso Know?
“So far we know about one conspiracy to deliberately cause a crash which involved three people. The obvious question now are: were more people involved, and were there other deliberate accidents? Inevitably many people have seized on Alonso as having a lot to gain from the accident, as it won him the race, and therefore asked how it can be that he did not know about it. So far there is no evidence that he did.” (F1 Fanatic)

Formula One: Unseemly End for Briatore
Martin Brundle, Formula One commentator for the BBC, once drove for Flavio Briatore. “Briatore can claim a strong hand in ‘discovering’ Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, two of the greatest drivers in F1 history,” said Brundle. “He celebrated double world championships with each of them. Alonso’s victories demonstrate that Flavio wasn’t just hanging on to Schumacher’s coat-tails for success, although it’s very telling that both of them chose to move away — Schumacher to Ferrari and Alonso to McLaren.” (The Times of London)

Nascar: Martin Wins First Chase Race
“Martin continues to have a storybook season. It might not have been unexpected to make the Chase – especially in the Hendrick stable, but to have won five times and to be leading the points race is beyond remarkable. What makes this particular race especially noteworthy for Martin is the fact that he had never won at New Hampshire (0-25) before Sunday.” (Upon Further Review)

IndyCar: Dixon Wins in Japan
Scott Dixon started from pole and led for most of the Japan 300 in Motegi. Dixon finished just ahead of his teammate at Target Chip Ganassi, Dario Franchitti, who now trails Dixon in the championship by only five points with one race remaining. The finale will be at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 10. (The Associated Press)

N.H.R.A.: Unlikely Winners in Countdown Opener
The Countdown to 1, a six-race playoff series to determine the N.H.R.A. championship, kicked off this weekend in Concord, N.C., and two drivers who had not won in more than a year came out on top of the two top classes. Cory McClenathan won in Top Fuel and Robert Hight won in Funny Car. “You start thinking maybe it’s me,” said Hight. “These cars are very hard, and they’re finicky. It’s not just driving them but tuning them and getting them down the racetrack.” Other winners included Mike Edwards in Pro Stock and Hector Arana in Pro Stock Motorcycle. (USA Today)

So McLaren is put on double secret probation and fined $100 MILLION for doing what many observers agree happens up and down the paddock all year long (granted, McLaren took it up a notch). In comparison, Renault puts a number of lives at risk — including those of Piquet, the other drivers, spectators and most dangerously, the race and corner workers — and they get a suspended sentence. I wonder if Renault had done something like this at Silverstone or Monaco, if the results would have been more dire for Renault. Singapore is a long way from FIA HQ.

I used to think that FIA was simply a poorly-disguised publicity arm for Ferrari, but I am beginning to think it is not so much pro-Ferrari as anti-McLaren/Mercedes. (Probably a little bit of both.)

There has no doubt been much such skullduggery over the years. John Surtees’ championship in 1964 owed much to his team mate Bandini knocking Graham Hill out of the final race, accidentally of course. There are plenty of other examples.

That doesn’t mean that when offenders aren’t caught, as McLaren and Renault have been, they should suffer no penalty. If the the FIA did nothing, it would be like releasing whatever bank robbers you’d nabbed, based on the fact that others had gotten away with it.

I’m an Alonso fan (and thus a Renault supporter to some degree); but this penalty is too mild. I know that finances are dodgy right now; but Renault has to pay SOMETHING if this is indeed true. I still have some doubts about Piquet’s credibility, although obviously Renaut’s acquiescence and Briatore and Symonds’ resignations speak very loudly.

What's Next

About

A team of New York Times contributors blogs about news, trends and all things automotive. Check back for insight, photos, reviews of cars and more. And remember to join the conversation — you can comment on the cars, offer your own reviews, and post questions in our reader comment area.

Archive

Recent Posts

The regular features of this blog, including Monday Motorsports, the Wheelies news briefs and reports on auto industry developments including vehicle recalls and technology updates, can now be found on the Automobiles Web page.Read more…

General Motors hasn’t offered a diesel passenger car since the diesel-powered Chevette chugged unceremoniously into its lineup in 1986. But the company is back with its efficient Chevrolet Cruze Turbo Diesel.Read more…